


The Slow Burn

by Traincat



Category: Fantastic Four (Comicverse)
Genre: Friends With Benefits, M/M, who are a lot more than that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 17:05:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18664663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Traincat/pseuds/Traincat
Summary: “I have to admit, I’m a little surprised we didn’t get back to find you and Alicia tied up in the closet and a time platform in the backyard,” Johnny joked halfheartedly, giving up on the water temperature before he sent the bill sky high. “Ugh, I can’t wait to get Latverian soil out of my hair. Victor probably fertilizes with the blood of his enemies.”He reached up to start undoing his prison oranges – he guessed not even Doom could do everything in shades of green – and winced when the movement reminded him that just an hour before he’d been violently thrown to the ground, no flames to protect him.“Here,” Wyatt said, stepping forward. “Let me help.”--Wyatt and Johnny do a little more than talking in the aftermath of Fantastic Four (2018) #9





	The Slow Burn

**Author's Note:**

> This is just fluffy angst starring the Johnny Storm's Terrible Self-Esteem Hour, JohnnyWyatt edition, set after Fantastic Four (2018) #9. I can't say I've enjoyed the last couple of Fantastic Four issues, as glad as I am to see the book back, but all the JohnnyWyatt content has been good to me at least. Let them kiss, Marvel, so I can stop starting fanfics about them having an on-again, off-again sexual relationship with bonus feelings!

“So, how was Latveria, really?”

“Oh, you know,” Johnny sighed, fiddling with the shower taps. He couldn’t get the water hot enough, but he was too tired to bother using his powers to mess with it. The way his day had been going, he’d probably somehow wreck the plumbing, so he resigned himself to one vaguely disappointing shower, coming right up. “Blab blah, Doom’s law is word, blah blah torture traps, blah blah robots. Same old, same old in little ol’ Latveria. How were the kids?”

“Nothing you wouldn’t expect from the smartest girl in the world and a reality warper going through a rebellious phase,” Wyatt hummed, his arms crossed over his broad chest as he leaned against the bathroom door. He gaze stayed fixed on Johnny. It always did, when they were alone. “They were fine, really.”

The Fantastic Four and company were leaving Jake and Petunia Grimm’s home in the morning, with the bulk of the family returning to New York to get settled in their new home while Ben and Alicia left for their postponed honeymoon. Johnny couldn’t say he was going to miss Arizona. If it was up to him, Ben and Alicia would have had their wedding somewhere more exciting, like a tropical island, but it was just as well. Doom would have played wedding crasher either way.

“I have to admit, I’m a little surprised we didn’t get back to find you and Alicia tied up in the closet and a time platform in the backyard,” Johnny joked halfheartedly, giving up on the water temperature before he sent the bill sky high. “Ugh, I can’t wait to get Latverian soil out of my hair. Victor probably fertilizes with the blood of his enemies.”

He reached up to start undoing his prison oranges – he guessed not even Doom could do everything in shades of green – and winced when the movement reminded him that just an hour before he’d been violently thrown to the ground, no flames to protect him.

“Here,” Wyatt said, stepping forward. “Let me help.”

His fingers deftly undid the buttons, barely brushing Johnny’s skin. Johnny still shivered at the first touch of Wyatt’s skin against his. Wyatt opened the top half of the jumpsuit off and frowned at what he saw.

“What happened here?” he asked, tracing a growing bruise on Johnny’s shoulder.

Johnny winced, remembering hitting the ground hard, Victorious’ shout ringing in his ears. He’d gotten the feeling Doom’s new girl Friday didn’t like him very much, but he’d never expected her to flip ass over ankle just for trying to help her down. Surprised, he’d landed badly, and he knew it was going to hurt like hell in the morning.

“It’s nothing,” he told Wyatt as Wyatt pushed back the fabric. He frowned down at the bruise, fingertips tracing the edges of it. “I’m fine, Wyatt, really.”

“It’s not like you to come back to me wounded,” Wyatt joked, but there was concern in his eyes. He bent to kiss Johnny’s shoulder and the movement crowded Johnny up against the wall. Jake and Petunia’s modest guest room bathroom wasn’t quite sized for Wyatt alone, let alone both of them. Johnny wrapped one hand around the back of Wyatt’s neck, closing his eyes as his lips brushed his skin. “I should have gone with you.”

The bathroom was starting to fog up from the spray of the shower; Johnny could feel the condensation against his skin, but it didn’t seem to matter when he was surrounded by Wyatt. Wyatt’s hands had moved to his waist, and his lips were making a steady path up Johnny’s neck, leaving an invisible brand on every inch of Johnny’s skin they touched.

It had been a long time since they’d last done this. Johnny had forgotten just how good Wyatt’s touch made him feel.

“No, we agreed,” Johnny hummed, stretching up on his toes to better lean into him, sinking his fingers into Wyatt’s thick dark hair. “Someone needed to watch the kids and it wasn’t fair to ask Alicia to do that alone on her honeymoon… really would have come home to find Ben’s Aunt Petunia stranded on one of Saturn’s moons… Uncle Jake sold to the Wizard in a game of poker… mm, Wyatt, c’mon.”

“C’mon, what?” Wyatt asked, nipping gently at the shell of Johnny’s ear. “It’s our last night out here. You know what they all say – Benson, Arizona is for lovers.”

“Who says that?” Johnny asked, breathing in the steam.

“I think I heard it from Ben’s Uncle Jake,” Wyatt said, his lips brushing feather light against Johnny’s.

“Wyatt,” Johnny gasped as Wyatt hooked his hands underneath Johnny’s thighs and hoisted him up, bracing him against the bathroom wall. Johnny locked his legs around Wyatt’s waist, his hands coming up to cup Wyatt’s face, and like this he didn’t have to lean up or tug Wyatt down to kiss him. He tangled his fingers more securely in Wyatt’s hair and fit their mouths together again.

It was always easy to get lost in kissing Wyatt. Everything about Latveria – Doom and Victorious and Galactus, being locked in a water-filled tube, his family once again at Doom’s mercy after Johnny had thought they’d struck a strange sort of peace with Tall, Green, and Mean – fell away. All Johnny’s little physical aches and pains fell away. The lingering stress of Ben’s wedding melted, and while Johnny doubted the sting of his family’s absence would ever completely fade, it didn’t seem as sharp when Wyatt’s tongue was in his mouth. Wyatt’s muscular body forced Johnny’s thighs wide open as Johnny dug a heel into the small of his back, and it was good. Better than good, it was distracting.

Johnny had been in dire need of that.

He was panting when they broke away, butterflies in his stomach and sparks dancing in his veins.

“What do you think you’re doing, Mr. Wingfoot?” he asked breathlessly, cupping Wyatt’s jaw with careful fingers. Wyatt’s dark eyes smoldered, reflecting the same fire Johnny felt.

“What does it look like, Mr. Storm?” Wyatt asked, moving to kiss his throat again. Johnny’s breath stuttered as he wrapped an arm around Wyatt’s neck.

“Like you’re trying to seduce me,” Johnny laughed with an exaggerated flutter of his eyelashes that made Wyatt laugh out loud. “Wyatt, c’mon. I smell like I raise chickens for his Doomliness. I need a shower.”

“I never have a problem with the way you smell,” Wyatt said, nosing at his throat, “but that shower idea doesn’t sound half-bad. I think I could use one myself.”

Johnny glanced over at the shower, which was on the small side, and then back at Wyatt.

“No way we’ll both fit, big guy,” he said, raising his eyebrows.

“Maybe not,” Wyatt said, letting Johnny slip from his grasp. He stripped off his white t-shirt, revealing his heavily muscled chest and toned stomach. Just like always, Johnny’s mouth instantly went dry. Wyatt smirked at him like he knew, but then of course he did. “But we won’t know unless we try.”

They really didn’t fit in the shower together. Wyatt’s six foot five frame wasn’t made for Petunia and Jake Grimm’s guest bathroom any more than it had been made for the twin beds back in their dorm room at Metro U, but they made do, just like they always did. More than that, Johnny liked it, being squashed up against Wyatt. He’d always liked how Wyatt made him feel small when he was caught up against his broad body. More than small – he felt safe and protected, like Wyatt was between him and the world. He’d needed that feeling, today.

Neither of them could move without knocking into the other, so they moved together instead.

“Wash your hair?” Wyatt asked quietly, gently cradling Johnny’s face in one hand. His thumb brushed against the corner of Johnny’s mouth.

“Tell me there’s not two-in-one shampoo and conditioner in here,” Johnny said, his eyes fluttering shut.

“Okay,” Wyatt said, a note of humor in his voice, “I won’t tell you.”

The shampoo had that certain chemical spice scent to it that Johnny recognized from Ben’s hair – whenever Ben had hair – and it added to his new strange sense of comfort. Johnny spread his hands against Wyatt’s chest and tilted his head back as Wyatt scrunched his fingers in his hair.

“I missed this,” Wyatt said, and it sounded a lot like _I missed you_.

Johnny had missed him, too. It had been so good to find Wyatt back in New York when he and Ben had returned from their disastrous multiversal road trip. He’d accepted what Ben had done, and he’d forgiven him, but the sting was still fresh. Wyatt had more than made for the perfect excuse to spend some time away from him. Even before his family had returned, it had almost been like old times being with Wyatt again – somehow he was always the one Johnny ended up around when his life was falling apart.

It had been Wyatt who had sought him out when the team had split, years ago, and it had been Wyatt Johnny had gone to see when he’d found he wasn’t about to become a father after all. It had been Wyatt who had tracked him down in a packed warehouse party when Johnny had been spiraling after losing his powers.

“What are you thinking about?” Wyatt asked, his familiar voice bringing Johnny out of his reverie.

Johnny opened his eyes. Wyatt was leaning over him, the shower beating down around him, and it was easy for Johnny to lean up to meet him, his hands on Wyatt’s shoulders and him balanced on his toes. Wyatt’s big hands slid to his hips to anchor him.

“Come on,” Johnny murmured, his nose brushing Wyatt’s. “We’re running up the water bill.”

Johnny was dry the second he stepped out of the shower. He usually refrained from using his powers to dry himself off because it left his hair completely unstyled, his blond curls a fluffy mess, but he didn’t mind being seen that way when it was Wyatt.

“Neat trick,” Wyatt said, dripping all over the bathroom mat. “Care to extend those talents?”

Johnny glanced at Wyatt’s chest, glistening with water droplets, and then slowly let his gaze slide lower.

“No,” he said, unable to help a smile. “I think I like you all wet.”

“Yeah?” Wyatt said, striking a pose. It should’ve been ridiculous, but he was sculpted better than a Greek statue, so all it did was make Johnny want him even more.

Distracted, Johnny missed when Wyatt’s hand shot out to take him by the elbow, pulling him back against him. He yelped in surprise as Wyatt spun him around, his back to Wyatt’s front, and locked his wet arms around him. Fingers skittered over Johnny’s ribs, where he was most ticklish.

“Wyatt!” he said, laughing helplessly. He struggled – not very hard – and after a second, Wyatt’s touch gentled, turning from tickling into a caress.

“So I have an idea,” he said in Johnny’s ear.

Johnny had a pretty good idea what it was, but he decided to play the dumb blond anyway. “Yeah?”

“Sue and Reed took the kids out with Jake and Petunia, right?” Wyatt said, pressing his lips to the crown of Johnny’s head.

“Uh-huh,” Johnny said, leaning back against him oh so innocently. “Family bonding night slash sorry our children are monsters dinner for the grownups.”

“Mm,” Wyatt hummed. “And Ben and Alicia are… otherwise occupied.”

“Ugh,” Johnny said with an exaggerated shudder. His skin crawled a bit; he’d long ago accepted that he’d never been with the real Alicia, and he no longer felt any sort of romantic tug towards her, but the wedding had brought up a lot of old memories, the kind he tried not to dwell on. “Mental images.”

“Anyway,” Wyatt said, turning him around. Johnny leaned up to loop his arms around Wyatt’s neck, tilting his head back to look at him. “I was thinking – there’s no reason to let them have all the fun.”

Johnny smiled.

 

* * *

 

The sex was good. The sex was always good. Johnny hated that it ever had to end, or that he ever had to leave a bed with Wyatt in it to return to the rest of his life.

Wyatt laughed as Johnny collapsed against his side, stretched out on the bed in all his glory. Johnny always got clingy after sex, in more ways than one – it was a weird little side effect of his powers he’d discovered over the years, but sex made him crave body heat. Luckily for him, Wyatt always ran hot and never seemed to mind Johnny plastering himself up against him.

“And here I thought your adventures in Latveria might have worn you out,” Wyatt said, rolling over onto his side. One of his big hands slid to Johnny’s hip. “That was incredible.”

“Take a little credit for yourself,” Johnny said, snickering a little. He felt good, loose-limbed and happy, his aching shoulder now a distant concern. “You _did_ teach me how to ride.”

“Horses, cowboy. I taught you how to ride horses,” Wyatt said, his fingers digging into Johnny’s ass. Johnny arched against him. “That kind of riding, you figured out all by yourself.”

Johnny palmed his cheek and kissed him, slow and easy. “What, do you need another demonstration, Wyatt?”

“Give me a break here,” Wyatt said, laughing. “I’m not nineteen anymore and I spent the whole day chasing after a teenage reality warper who’s decided to develop an attitude problem. The flesh is weary, John.”

“Hey, if you don’t like it, you can go sign up with some other superhero team,” Johnny said, kissing Wyatt quickly in between every other word. “The Avengers… the Defenders… Dr. Strange and the Strangettes…”

“I’ll pass,” Wyatt said, his hand sliding up to the small of Johnny’s back. He knocked his forehead against Johnny’s, a smile on his face. “I’m happy right where I am.”

Johnny swallowed hard, and the post-coital euphoria faded a little bit as his eyes burned at the corners. It was just a long day, he told himself – a long, hard day back in Doom’s torture dungeon. He sighed as Wyatt leaned over him, relaxing back against the mattress, and told himself to stop being so stupid that one nice little line was enough to make him want to cry.

“I wanted to take you back to my place after Ben’s bachelor party,” Wyatt confessed, kissing Johnny’s chest, right over his heart. “Open some champagne, turn on some music. Fuck you into my mattress.” Johnny groaned a little as Wyatt planted another kiss. “But then I saw you talking to Ben.”

Johnny remembered sitting on the curb, slightly buzzed and utterly miserable. He would have gone home with Wyatt in a second.

“Oh,” he said, reaching up to comb his fingers through Wyatt’s hair. “Yeah.”

“It looked serious,” Wyatt said, raising himself up on his elbows and staring down at Johnny. “What were you talking about?”

They’d been talking about Johnny’s sorry excuse for a love life. His long string of failed relationships. About how Ben regretted waiting so long to take the jump and ask Alicia to marry him, and how he didn’t want Johnny to follow his example. About how Johnny would know when he met the right person.

Except sometimes, Johnny wondered if he hadn’t met the right person years ago when he’d gotten lost looking for the dean’s office in the hallways of Metro University. He raised a hand and stroked the back of his knuckles against Wyatt’s cheek, and Wyatt wrapped a hand around his wrist and held it steady to he could kiss the back of Johnny’s hand. Butterflies fluttered in Johnny’s stomach.

_Be brave, Johnny Storm_.

But Wyatt was his constant. Wyatt stayed when everyone else left – girlfriends, the occasional boyfriend, Ben, even Reed and Sue. His own powers. Wyatt had seen him through it all, at his best and at his worst, and he’d never judged him for it.

Sex was easy with Wyatt. Better than easy, sex was _good_ with Wyatt. He didn’t have to wonder if whoever he was with really liked him for him or if they just wanted to be able to claim they’d slept with the Human Torch, celebrity superhero. There was no self-consciousness with Wyatt, no trying to live up to what the rumor mill had long ago decided the Johnny Storm experience was. Wyatt had never cared about that.

Sex was easy. Being with Wyatt with easy. It was relationships that were hard. He’d never been able to make them work. Crystal had left him, and Frankie too. Kourtney had liked him first and foremost for his spotlight, and then without even meaning to he’d turned around and used Darla the same way. He and Medusa had made a mistake with each other, and now he didn’t know if Crystal would ever look at him the same again without that hard little glint deep in her eyes. He’d thought he’d found a great guy in Daken, only to watch as he tried to kill Reed.

Long before he’d found out the Alicia he married was a Skrull, he’d blamed himself for letting his eye wander. The emotional affair he’d shared with Crystal, not strong enough to resist the temptation when Ben had brought her back onto the team. The thoughts about a beautiful blue woman who had invaded his mind. He’d hated himself for finally having everything he’d thought he’d wanted – a marriage, a partner, what he’d thought was love – and looking elsewhere.

Ben had told him to be brave, but Johnny was far too afraid of messing everything up and losing Wyatt, too. Friendship was safe. This arrangement – falling into bed with each other when they were both single and willing – was safe. Anything more felt like he was standing on the edge of a cliff, about to risk everything, not knowing if he’d survive the fall.

If he ever lost Wyatt’s friendship, he didn’t know what he would do. Break apart, probably, he thought. The idea alone was enough to make him want to cry.

Maybe he wasn’t as brave as Ben thought. Maybe he just wasn’t as good.

“Just, you know, wedding stuff,” Johnny said, his voice too light. He worried Wyatt would catch onto the false note, so he hurried on. “What supervillains were going to crash, whether Sue was going to cry, whether Ben’s vows were stupid. That kind of thing.”

“Well,” Wyatt said after a second. “I’m glad it wasn’t anything too serious.”

He didn’t really look like he believed him, but there must have been something in Johnny’s expression, because he let it drop. Johnny rolled over onto his side, away from Wyatt, afraid of what else his face would show.

“Yeah,” he said. “Nothing serious at all. Are you coming back to New York with us tomorrow?”

“For a little bit, at least,” Wyatt said. “I still have some stuff I want to do. Make sure you and the family get settled into the new place okay. Catch a show. Maybe see if I can track down Jen for lunch.”

“Oh,” Johnny said, ugly jealousy curling in his stomach. He hated feeling that way about Wyatt and Jen. Jen was his friend, too, and besides, she and Wyatt had been really in love once. Wyatt had been really in love with her. Johnny’s feelings aside – no matter how many times Johnny had slept with him over the years, Jen had more of a claim on Wyatt than he ever did.

“Not like that,” Wyatt said. “Just to catch up. It’s been a while. Hey, you look cold.”

“I don’t get cold,” Johnny said, but he didn’t protest as Wyatt shifted so he was spooned up behind Johnny. Wyatt’s arm came around him, one big hand resting at his stomach, and Johnny covered it with his own.

“Then maybe I just wanted an excuse,” Wyatt said.

Johnny didn’t say anything. Neither did Wyatt; after a few long moments his breathing deepened and slowed, the familiar sound of him falling asleep, and Johnny relaxed a little against him, letting himself savor the warmth of Wyatt at his back, the heat of him relaxing as it soaked into Johnny’s sore muscles, soothing the itch of his greedy powers.

Be brave, Ben had said.

Johnny wasn’t brave enough to take that step off the cliff, but, he thought, as he tangled his fingers in Wyatt’s, sometimes it was nice to pretend.

**Author's Note:**

> In Marvel Two-In-One #59, Johnny notes that Wyatt taught him how to ride -- horses, that is. But you know, who can say as to other things. I am also obsessed with Ben's "be brave, Johnny Storm" line from Fantastic Four (2018) #5 even though I know nothing is going to come out of it.


End file.
